Gold-washing machine.



No. 760,664. c. c. VAN DER VALK.

'GOLD WASHING MACHINE..

APPLIOATION PILSD AUG. 19, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED MAY 24, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m: 46ml rzrs'ns joo., mraumo.. wmmaron. nic.

/NVENTOR No. 760,664. PATBNTEn-MAY 24, 1904.

' c. c. VAN DBR VALK. f

GOLD WASHING MAGHINE.

l APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 19,`1903. No MODEL. v

,2 SHEETS-SHEET L l Patented May'24, 1904.

. UNITED` STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN CORNELIS VAN DER VALK, OF VOORBURG, NEAR THE'. HGUE,

NETHERLANDS.

Gom-WASHING. MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.v7.60,664, dated May 24, 1904.

Application filed August 19, 1903.`

' To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

' nying drawings.

The subject of my invention is amachine for extracting as completely as is possible the I gold or other'precious metal contained inearth or sand which has been dredged or dug out, in

contradistinction to rock or ore. Bymeans of this machine gold can be obtained in a much more eflicient manner than is possible with the apparatus ordinarily employedsuch as Bates apparatus-or hand-Washers, which are dilicult to handle, so that but few workmen possess the necessary dexterity in order to` obtain the whole of the metal contained in the earth.

vShaped support 3.

` The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l'shows a vertical section of the machine, and Fig. 2 a plan of that portion of the machine which lies between the lines A B and C D of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is'a plan of that portion which lies below the line C D of Fig. 1.-

The new machine consists of sheet-metal hopper 1, iitting into the correspondingly- In the base of 'the'hopper is a central aperture coinciding with they spher. ical recess 2 in 'the' support 3. The. latter is secured to the top of a rodl 15 and is thereforecompelled to partake of all the move.- ments of the said.rodas will be hereinafter more fully described. The top end `of the rod 15has its bearingin the semispherical block, in which it c an turn and at l the same time reciprocatev in vertical direction.l `The block 5k rests.4 in aslide 14, in

which itcan be rocked.. The slide-4 is guided' two uprights 6 andby means of the lever system7 8 9 10 canbe adjusted vertically and-A secured iii thedesired position by the aid of the notched arc 11; The bottom end of the rod 15 is provided with afork 17, in which a small roller running'on the to'otheddisk`20,

Serial No. 170,027. (No model.)

l is mounted. The disk 29 is rigidly secured to the frame 111 of the machine by -Ineans of the connecting-pieces 31, as clearly shown in Eig.

3. If, therefore, the fork 17, withits roller, f

is causedto travel in a circular path over the disk20, vthe roller, following the contour of the teeth on the latter, will impart to the rod y15, and therefore also to the hopper 1, a regular up-and-down motion.`

rlhe fork 17, with its roller, is caused to travel over lthe disk in the mannerl indicated by means of the following device: In the center of the' disk 20 is apin 22, which by means of the toothed l.gear-wheels 27 and 28 and the spindle 29, rotated by hand or power, is given a constant'rotary motion. The wheels 27 and 28 are keyed to their axes 22 and 29, respectively,` inthe ordinary'manner. Onthe top of the pin 22 is keyed a sleeve 23, having guide-pins 24. kOn, theJ latter there slides a i forked block 25, in the outer end of which is mounteda small roller which travels over the surface of a toothed ring 21. Between the I block 25 `and sleeve 23 is a spiral spring 26, 2. located between the pins 24 and always tendfing to force the block 25 and its roller outi ward against the teeth of the ring 21.

In the *block 25 is a square hole forming a bearing for the fork 17, Which is atl this part of square section and can slide inthe hole. vThe ring 21, like the disk 20, is rigidly secured to the machine-framing bythe pieces If, therefore,the spindle 29 is turned so as to cause the sleeve 23, and thus the block t 25, to rotate in the direction of the arrow in Eig.` 3, the block 25, with its roller, the fork 17, and rod 15 will follow a sinuouspath presented by the teeth of the ring 2 1. In this manner the hopper 1, in addition to its upand-down motion, asalready described, will ing upon the latter-have the tendency to ad- 'vance toward the center of the hopper.l In

order to prevent the same side of the hopper always being lowermost, such as would be the case if the fork 17 were rigidly connected to the rod 15, fork and rod are joined by means of a sleeve 16. The latter is rigidly secured to the rod 15, but allows the fork 17 to turn in it by means of an annular groove in the fork end and a pin in well-known manner.

Through the sleeve 16 there passes loosely a rod 18, connected to the machine-framing 14 by a universal (Cardans) joint 19, so that it is capable of movement in all directions. By this means the rod 15, while the fork 17 and its roller are traveling in a circular path over the disk 20, will always present one and the same point of its circumference toward the same side, or, in other words, is prevented from rotating during its circular swinging motion inside the framing 14. d From this it follows that all points of the circumference of the hopper 1 must alternately and in order assume the highest and lowest positions, Fig. 1, so that the entire contents of the hopper must gradually move over the center of the latter.

By altering the height of the slide L it is obvious that the extent of the oscillations of the hopper can be changed as desired.

Suitably secured to the wall of the hopper 1 is a cover 32, by opening which access can be had laterally to the interior.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The hollow space 2 is partly filled with mercury and the hopper 1 then charged with the metalliferous earth to be treated, which must first have been freed of all stones and then stirred up with water to form a muddy mass. The spindle 29 must now be rotated and the whole machine thus set in operation. In consequence of the combined shocks in vertical and horizontal directions, which, owing te the arrangements already described, are exercised continuously upon the hopper, the specifically heavier materials of the mud contained in the latter will commence to shift toward the center of the hopper and finally will all collect at the center-that is, above the recess 2. So far as these specifically heavier parts are gold or another metal soluble in mercury they will be amalgamated by the mercury contained in the recess 2 and can subsequently be separated from such mercurial mass by well-known process. In this Vmanner even the very finest particles of metalwe. g., gold-dust-distrihuted in the earth can be extracted. To obtain all the particles of precious metal contained in a hopper charge, it is sufficient to work the machine only for a few minutes. This being done, the machine is stopped and the hopper brought into the dotted-line position in F ig. 1 byy means of the handle 10. The cover 32 must next be opened and the now completelyexhausted muddy mass removed from the hopper. The opening must then be closed again by the cover 32, when the hopper can be recharged with sand or earth mixed upto muddy consistency and the operation repeated. ln order to separate the metal contained in the mercury in the recess 2, it is well to first press the mercury through linen to remove any fioating particles of earth. r1`he residue` with the mercury, may then be treated in the usual manner-for example, by volatilizationin order to separate the amalgamated metal.

The new machine operates so thoroughly that earth which has been already treated in the ordinary manner by means of machines of well-known construction may be treated again in the new machine, the further yield of precious metal rendering this lucrative.

Having thus described lny invention, what I claim is- 1. A gold-washing machine comprising a receptacle the bottom of which runs downwardly toward the center, a non-rotating` support for said receptacle, said support heilig provided with a recess, and said receptacle having an opening communicating with said recess and means for simultaneously giving said receptacle a constantly-changing inclination and an up-and-down motion, whereby the specifically heavier bodies contained in the charge in the receptacle are caused to advance toward said recess, substantially as described.

2. A gold-washing machine, comprising a receptacle 1, 3 the bottom of which runs downwardly toward the center, where a recess 2 for mercury is located, arod 15 carrying said re* ceptacle, means for preventing said rod from turning, a semispherical top bearing for said rod, a roller at the bottom of the latter, a stationary toothed disk 20, and means for rotating the roller over the teeth of the same, whereby the receptacle receives simultaneously a revolving and a regular np-and-down motion, substantially as described.

8. A gold-washing machine, comprising a receptacle 1, 3 the bottom of which runs downwardly toward the center, where a rccess2 for mercury is located, a rod 15 carrying said rcceptacle, a semispherical top bearing for saidv rod, a vertically-reciprocating slide in which said bearing is contained, means for adjusting and fixing said slide, a roller at the bottom of the rod, a stationary toothed disl( 20, and means for rotating the roller over the teeth of the same, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. A gold-washing machine, comprising a receptacle 1, 3 the bottom of which runs downwardly toward the center, where a recess 2 for mercury is located, a rod 15 carrying said rcceptacle, a semispherical top bearing for said rod, a roller at the bottom of the latter, a stationary toothed disk 2O over which the said roller runs, a rotary spring-controlled lower bearing 25 for the roller-rod, a stationary toothed ring, located eoncentrically with the toothed disk, over the teeth of which ring the bearing 25 travels, and means for rotating thc IOO said bearing With its rod, all substantially as and for the purposes described. l

`5.V A gold-Washing machine, comprising a receptacle 1, 3 the bottom of which runs downwardly toward the center, Where a recess 2 for mercury is located, a rod the lower portion 17 of which turns in the upper portion 15 which carries the receptacle a semispherical bearing for the top of said rod 15, 17, a roller at the bottom of the latter, a stationary toothed disk 20 over which said roller runs, arotary springcontrolled bearing 25 for the lower portion 17, of said rod, a stationary toothed ring 21 located concentrically with the said disk, over els, an arm 18 passing crosswise loosely through the upper portion 15 of said rod and secured tothe framing by a universal joint, and means for rotating the said bearing 25 with its rod, all substantially as and for the purposes described. In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 22d day of July, 1903, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHRISTIAN CORNELIS VAN DER VALK. Witnesses: Y f

AUGUST SIEGFRIED DocnN, v LoUIs -FREDERIK VAN MEEUMER, Jr. 

